Newcastle City Council

Children’s Social Care

Adoption Service

Statement of Purpose

September 2016


What is a statement of purpose?

A statement of purpose is a clear description of the purpose of the Adoption Service, and what it does. In other words, a statement of its aims and objectives and of the facilities and services it provides.

The Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills (Ofsted) inspects the Adoption Service to ensure that we achieve the aims set out in the statement of purpose. Local Authority Adoption Service (England) Regulations and the National Minimum Standards for Adoption require all Adoption Services to have a statement of purpose.

The government implemented the new adoption scorecard as part of their Action Plan for Adoption and adoption reforms announced in 2011. Newcastle aims to meet the requirements of the Action Plan and the thresholds set out in the scorecard by placing children for adoption in a timely way. This will be achieved through the implementation of a revised Newcastle Adoption Business Plan. The key aim and focus of the Newcastle Adoption Service is to secure a positive outcome for children who need adoptive families. The objective of the plan is to meet this aim by increasing the service’s capacity to assess prospective adopters without undue delay in order to increase in house provision and placement choice for children on referral to the service.

Mission statement

Every child has a right to grow up in a permanent, secure and loving family, which embraces their individual needs and differences and reflects their culture and identity. Where this cannot be ensured in the family of origin, we aim to provide high quality adoption and adoption support services:

  • To children and young people who are adopted or who have a plan for adoption.
  • To individuals and families who wish to adopt or who have adopted children.
  • To birth families.
  • To adopted adults.

We are committed to offering fair and transparent services, which promote the child’s welfare as paramount, and which are accessible to all sections of the community.

Aims and objectives

Aims

Our primary aim is:

  • To secure through adoption, stable and permanent family placements for children looked after by Newcastle City Council for whom adoption has been assessed as being in their best interests.

Our secondary aims are to provide services to:

  • Children who have a plan for adoption, have been placed for adoption or who have been adopted and their adoptive families.
  • Adults who wish to adopt children.
  • Parents, guardians and other birth relatives of adopted children.
  • Adults who were adopted as children.

Objectives

  • To ensure the safety and well being of children looked after.
  • To make care plans and decisions without unnecessary delay and with the best interests of the child being paramount.
  • To provide a pool of suitable adopters which reflect the diverse needs of children.
  • To increase the number of placements for sibling groups, older children, children with disabilities, and children from diverse cultural backgrounds.
  • To ensure placement choice by working with other adoption agencies and consortia.
  • To offer high quality recruitment, preparation, training and support to prospective adopters and so increase placement stability.
  • To ensure placements are as safe as possible, that they encourage the best possible development of adopted children, and promote their health and educational needs.
  • To reduce the number of placement disruptions by providing a continuing post-placement and post-adoption service.
  • To ensure adoption support is effective through a range of partnerships with other agencies.

Facilities and services

Newcastle Adoption Service is structured to provide a seamless service for children who need an adoptive placement. We work closely and positively with the children’s social workers to promote adoption and to enhance the well being of children placed in adoptive families. We provide, facilitate or co-ordinate the following services:

For children

  • Family finding.
  • Preparing for adoption.
  • Life story work.
  • Monitoring and support of adoptive placement, including reviews, until an Adoption Order is made.
  • Assessment of lifelong needs regarding adoptive status.
  • Individual and group support
For birth parents
  • Counselling about available options and their implications.
  • Information and advice about the adoption process.
  • Help with preparing life story materials.
  • Individual and group support.
  • Post-placement contact if part of the child’s plan
  • Information about how to access local intermediary services
  • Assessment of need for support with direct contact with child and adoptive family if part of child’s plan.
  • Information about other sources of support for birth parents.
For prospective adopters and adoptive families
  • Information and advice about adoption.
  • Initial screening visit to those wanting to adopt.
  • Preparation and training for applicants.
  • Assessment of applicants.
  • Opportunity to attend the Adoption Panel when application is presented.
  • Support from and contact with the Adoption Service.
  • Regular support groups and children’s events.
  • Adoption support including financial support where assessed as needed.
  • Inter-country adoption information, advice, preparation, assessment and support.
For adopted adults
  • Birth records counselling.
  • Information about other sources of support.
  • Information about how to access local Intermediary services.
For other agencies
  • Reports to Court for non-agency adoption applications.

Summary of procedures for prospective adopters

Recruitment

  • We have a recruitment strategy which includes national, regional and local activities, (e.g. publications, broadcast and web media, Council publicity and public information sessions).
  • Our duty service is open during office hours and we respond positively to enquiries. Enquiries can also be made online via our website.
  • We are happy to consider enquirers from an area within a 50 mile radius of Newcastle upon Tyne.
  • Our current practice is not to place children under 5 with adopters who smoke due the risks from passive smoking.
  • We welcome enquirers from all backgrounds and give them information about the preparation, assessment and approval process.
  • We invite enquirers to complete a basic personal information form.
  • We then offer a home visit to discuss the enquiry further and provide additional information about adoption.
  • We will then make a decision about whether we are able to progress the enquiry and invite the enquirer to register their interest.
  • We may need to advise enquirers at any stage of the process that we are unable to progress their enquiry. If this happens, the enquirer will always be informed about the reason for this decision.
  • If, due to capacity issues, we are unable to progress an enquiry, we will provide the enquirer with information about alternative adoption agencies.
Assessment
  • The adoption assessment is a two stage process. Stage one is the initial enquiry, initial assessment and training and information sharing stage. During this stage, enquirers will be allocated a dedicated social worker. The enquirers are required to give permission for the agency to obtain medical information, personal references and statutory checks, including enhanced DBS checks for all adults and young people over 16 in the household. During this stage, we provide a range of information to enquirers about adoption and the adoption process. Following completion of the stage one stage, we ask enquirers to fill in a registration of interest form.
  • Following completion of the stage one process and the receipt of all the relevant checks, the prospective adopters will be invited to progress onto stage two of the assessment, the home study, which incorporates the advanced training and preparation for adoption. The adopters may decline to progress or defer their application for up to 6 months. Progression after 6 months will require a re entry interview. The agency may decide not to progress the registration of interest due to information received. If this is the case, the agency will notify the enquirer with reasons in writing.
  • If the registration of interest is progressed, the allocated social worker completes will complete this part of the assessment with around six home study sessions and interviews with a minimum of three personal referees.
  • The advanced preparation and training group sessions give information about the children we have needing families, the legal side of adoption, child development, attachment, separation and loss and emotional and behavioural difficulties. Feedback from these sessions will also inform the assessment process.
  • Following the assessment, the assessing social worker will complete the Prospective Adopter’s Report (PAR). Applicants will be asked to read the PAR and provide their views on its content before the PAR is presented to the Adoption Panel to consider.
Approval
  • On receipt of the Prospective Adopter’s Report, the Adoption Panel will consider the application and make a recommendation about the applicants’ suitability to adopt. We invite applicants to attend the panel when their application is considered. The Panel’s recommendation then goes tothe Agency Decision Maker who will make the Agency Decision about whether to approve the application.
  • Once approved, the prospective adopters will receive regular support and training opportunities from the agency and their assessing social worker. These visits will continue through the whole process including matching and introductions to the child, support of the placement and the making of the Adoption Order.

Appealing against the Agency Decision

  • Once a registration of interest has been accepted by the Adoption Service, prospective adopters’ remains free to withdraw from the process at any time. However, if the Adoption Service wishes to terminate an assessment or make a negative recommendation to panel due to concerns about the prospective adopter’ssuitability to adopt, they must take a report to panel for consideration. The panel will make a recommendation to the Agency Decision maker who will then make the final decision. Ifthe decision is to terminate the assessment or not approve the application, the Agency Decision Maker will make what is known as a ‘qualifying determination’ and the applicant will be notified of the Agency Decision with reasons. Applicants can appeal against this decision by either requesting a review of the decision by the Agency Decision Maker or by requesting an independent review by the IRM (Independent Review Mechanism). Information leaflets about the IRM are provided to applicants who have received a qualifying determination. The leaflets are also available on request from the Adoption Service. Alternatively, applicants may make a complaint using the Children’s Social Care complaints procedure.

Waiting for a match

  • While waiting for a match the prospective adopters are contacted by their assessing social worker on a pre-agreed basis. The Adoption Service and the North East Consortium of Adoption Agencies host regular waiting adopter events and support and training sessions both locally and regionally. All waiting adopters are invited to these events.
  • Approved adopters who are waiting for a match with a childundergo a review every twelve months. An independent reviewing officer and the assessing social workercarry out the review with the prospective adopter. A report is sent to the Adoption Panel if significant changes have occurred with regards the prospective adopter’s circumstances or approval is no longer felt to be appropriate by the agency. Any decision to withdraw an adopters’ approval is subject to the same review, appeal and complaints procedures as the initial Agency Decision to approve.
Matching
  • Children referred for adoption arematched with prospective adopters on the basis of the needs of the child and the parenting capacity of the prospective adopters, taking into account assessed adoption support needs. In making decisions, the child’s welfare throughout their life is the first and paramount consideration. Consideration of their welfare includes their physical and emotional safety and well being, cultural, ethnic and religious identity and any developmental needs they may have.
  • The process of matching includes the sharing of professional information by the adoption social workerand the child’s social worker and other significantpeople. Once a selection has been made, information about the proposed match is discussed fully with the prospective adopters to ensure they have sufficient information to make an informed choice about the match.
  • In the event that several adopters have the assessed parenting capacity to meet a child’s assessed needs, the prospective adopters who have been approved the longest will be considered initially for the match.
Placement Support
  • Before placement, an assessment of support needs is undertaken and an adoption support plan developed.
  • If a placement requires additional or extensive support, it is taken to the Adoption Advisory Group for a recommendation to the Service Manager. All matches and support plans are fully endorsed by the Adoption Service before they are taken to the Adoption Panel for recommendation and approval.
  • Once the match is approved, the prospective adopter is introduced gradually to the child over a period of time. Once the child has moved into the adoptive placement, a review of the placement is undertaken by an independent reviewing officer at regular intervals until an Adoption Order is made.
  • The adoption social worker and child’s social workervisit the adoptive family regularly until an adoption Order is made.
  • The Adoption Service can provide post-placement support including advice, guidance, co-ordination of health, education and social services as required, support groups and events for adoptive families.
  • Further parent training and other programmes is provided.
  • Post-placement support through financial and/or therapeutic help is available according to the assessed needs of the child and the family. Qualification for financial assistance also depends on the outcome of a financial assessment of adopters’ circumstances.

Quality assurance

  • Regular professional supervision is provided to all staff including managers.
  • Each staff member is formally appraised and contributes to their personal development plan on an annual basis. Panel members are also appraised yearly, including the Panel Chair.
  • The Adoption Service requests service user feedback on each stage of the adoption process.
  • All reports to the Adoption Panel are screened for their quality by the relevant manager. The adoption managersscreen the Prospective Adopter’s Report and both area team and adoption team managers screen matching reports. The information in the Child Permanence Report (CPR) is screened by the child’s social work management. It is then forwarded to the adoption service where it is subject to a further process of quality assurance before it is sent to the Agency Decision Maker who makes the agency decision about whether the child should be placed adoption.
  • The adoption service managers and Senior Managers audit the adoption files on a regular basis.
  • We are developing the utilisation of management information on childcare planning activities, recruitment strategies and adherence to timescales.
  • Quarterly meetings are held between the Panel Chair, Panel Adviser and Agency Decision Maker to analyse and report on the quality of assessments and reports that have been presented to Panel.
  • Senior managers and the executive members of the Council monitor the quality of service management and the outcomes of the service. The Adoption Service manager providesregular reports on service activity and outcomes to the Adoption Panel, the Corporate Parenting Group, MALAP and Key senior managers.

Safeguarding

All Staff working in or on behalf of the agency will have enhanced DBS clearance.

All prospective Adopters and adults over the age of 16 living in their household will need to have enhanced DBS clearance.

Any safeguarding concern that arises in the course of working with service users, whether current or historical will be considered under the Council’s safeguarding Procedures.

Complaints

Complaints about the Adoption Service are addressed through Newcastle City Council’s Children’s Social Care complaints procedure. This provides a three-stage process for responding to complaints with an emphasis on early resolution.

  • At Stage 1, the manager of the adoption service will attempt to resolve the complaint informally and will provide a written reply to the complainant within 28 days. If the complainant is unhappy with this response, they may go on to the next stage.
  • At Stage 2, should the complainant remain dissatisfied with the manager’s reply, they may request a formal investigation of their complaint by an investigating officer who has no line management responsibility for the service. At the conclusion of the investigation, the complainant will receive a formal response from the Head of Children’s Social Care regarding the investigation’s findings. We aim to respond to the complaint within 28 days at this stage.
  • At Stage 3, if the complainant remains dissatisfied, they may, within 28 days, request a stage 3 review panel. The Panel is independently chaired and has Member representation. The Panel will review the formal investigation into the complaint and make recommendations to the Executive Director of Children’s Services about the outcome of the complaint. The Executive Director of Children’s Services will write to the complainant within 28 days of the review panel with the Council’s final response to the complaint.

To raise a concern or to make a complaint, users of the Adoption Service may contact either Deborah Anderson, Registered Adoption Team Manager, on 0191 2116777 or Myra Milne, Service Manager on 0191 2772430. Alternatively, users may contact the Customer Relations Team on 0191 211 6340.

Management structure and staffing

Structure

The Adoption Service is managed by Children’s Social Care, which is part of Newcastle City Council. It has a ServiceManager with overall responsibility for the service, who is line managed by the Service Manager for Corporate Parenting.